Ultimate Book of Card Games: The Comprehensive Guide to More Than 350 Games (75 page)

This is no-limit Shelby, with plenty of scope for aggressive betting and humongous pots (and equally humongous challenge payouts!). Unlike the basic Shelby game, there is no preset limit for challenges; the stake for challenges is always the current value of the pot. However, all money added to the pot in the current betting round is not incrementally added to the pot total; the pot total is not recalculated or adjusted until the following round of betting.

In Round 1, all players receive three face-down cards and compete to make the highest hand using only two of three cards (A-A is a guaranteed winner at this point). In Round 2, players receive two more face-down cards and compete to have the lowest hand using only three of five cards (3-2-A is lowest at this point). In Round 3, there is a twist: players receive two additional face-down cards and compete to have the highest five-card poker hand using Baseball rules (meaning all 3s and 9s are wild, and 4s buy an extra card off the deck for a preset amount, typically $1).

VARIATION 7: TENNESSEE GUTS

Aces always and only rank high, and the suits rank (high to low) spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs (e.g., K of spades beats K of hearts). After an ante, deal one card to each player. After a drop, players that hold must turn up their cards, and the winner places a marker or button in front of himself. The loser(s) pays an agreed-upon amount to the pot. All players re-ante, and new cards are dealt (deal from the existing deck;
do not shuffle until the deck is exhausted). The first player to earn three markers wins the pot and ends the game.

1. DIFFICULTY
   :
   low
   
2. TIME LENGTH
   :
   medium
   
3. DECKS
   : 1
   

Five-Card Draw emerged in the 1850s and ‘60s, at the height of the American Gold Rush in California. Its predecessor used a twenty-card deck that limited the number of players and the possible hand combinations. The fifty-two-card deck became standard in the 1850s. This led to the introduction of a draw round, which led to more aggressive betting, which led to the game’s raging popularity on the gold fields of California and Alaska.

Players are dealt five cards. After the first bet, players may discard and replace up to four cards. At the showdown, the highest poker hand wins.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS
Up to 7

INITIAL DEAL
Each player is dealt five cards, all face down.

FIRST BET
Player to the left of the dealer opens.

SECOND DEAL
Player to the left of the dealer may (but is not required to) discard up to four cards, face down. The dealer gives the player an equivalent number of replacement cards, face down, and repeats the draw with each subsequent player.

SECOND BET
The player who opened the first round of betting opens the second round. If there was no betting in the first round, the player to the left of the dealer starts the betting.

REST OF GAME
Once the pot is neat, all players must flip their cards face up. The highest hand wins.

STRATEGY TIPS
If you are dealt an initial pair, the smart move is to discard the three unpaired cards even if they look promising. For example, if you start with A-7-7-5-2, don’t even think about keeping that ace. Discard everything except 7-7 and you have a 40 percent chance of drawing either a third seven or a second pair.

VARIATION 1: DEUCES DIABLO

You have been warned: This game is for crazy people only!

RULE CHANGE
The initial and second deals are identical to the basic game, but all 2s (deuces) are wild, and any player who folds is out for all subsequent hands and redeals. The “diablo” part comes with the first bet: if you are crazy enough to open, you
must
win the hand. If you do not win, the hand winner takes the pot and the game continues with a twist: all eligible players ante as normal, except the previous hand’s losing player, whose ante must match the value of the previous pot!

That’s right, if the value of the previous pot was $15, the losing player must ante $15 in addition to the normal ante. It’s called a penalty ante, and it really hurts! The pain, and game, continue until a player who opens the bet actually wins the pot.

STRATEGY TIPS
You are crazy to open the bet without having one—preferably two—wild cards. Strategy for the remaining players is straightforward: try to improve your hand at the draw, bet big, and never fold (by folding you disqualify yourself from play in the later hands, when the pots typically bulge with penalty antes). A straight rarely wins this game. Two pair? Not a chance in hell.

VARIATION 2: JACKS TO OPEN

Follow the standard Five-Card Draw rules, except you may not open the first round of betting holding less than a pair of jacks. If no player can open the betting, the hand is dead, the pot is carried over to the next hand, players re-ante, and new cards are dealt. Once you fold, you’re out of the game for
good, even if new cards are redealt. If all but one player folds, the survivor wins the pot and the game is over.